Blanche Baker
Baker in 2019
Born
Blanche Garfein

New York City, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1978–present
Spouses
Bruce Van Dusen
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 2002)​
    Mark Magill
    ​
    (m. 2003)​
    Children4
    Parent(s)Carroll Baker (mother)
    Jack Garfein (father)

    Blanche Baker is an American actress and filmmaker. She won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the television mini-series Holocaust. Baker is known for her role as Ginny Baker in Sixteen Candles; she also starred in the title role of Lolita on Broadway. In 2012, she produced and starred in a film about Ruth Madoff titled Ruth Madoff Occupies Wall Street.[1]

    Early life and education

    Born Blanche Garfein in New York City, she is the daughter of actress Carroll Baker and director Jack Garfein. Her father is a Jew from Carpathian Ruthenia (born in Mukachevo), who survived the Holocaust; and her mother was a Roman Catholic who converted to Judaism. She also has a younger brother, Herschel Garfein. She spent her early life in Italy, where her mother had established a film career after leaving Hollywood in the mid-1960s. Baker attended the American School in Rome and then Wellesley College from 1974 to 1976,[2] and later studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio[3] and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.[4]

    Career

    Television

    Blanche Baker made her television debut playing the character Anna Weiss in the miniseries Holocaust. (Her father Jack Garfein was a Holocaust survivor who had been imprisoned in Auschwitz.) She won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series in 1978 for her performance.

    She has subsequently appeared in the TV movies Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith (1979) as Mary, The Day the Bubble Burst (1982), The Awakening of Candra (1983) as Candra Torres, Embassy (1985), Nobody's Child (1986), and Taking Chance (2009). She also has appeared on many TV series.

    Theatre

    With Donald Sutherland in Lolita rehearsal, New York City

    In 1980–81, she originated the lead role in Edward Albee's stage adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. During out-of-town tryouts and in New York, the play was picketed by feminists, including Women Against Pornography, who were outraged by the theme of pedophilia.[5]

    The troubled production opened on Broadway on March 19, 1981, after 31 previews and closed after only 12 performances.[6] Frank Rich of The New York Times gave the play a bad review, terming it "the kind of embarrassment that audiences do not quickly forget or forgive." Baker was mentioned by Rich in only one line. "In the title role, here a minor figure, the 24-year-old Miss Baker does a clever job of impersonating the downy nymphet; she deserves a more substantial stage vehicle soon."[7]

    People Magazine called Albee's Lolita "Broadway's Bomb of the Year" in an April 16, 1981, story.[8] Baker was the real subject of the article, and People writer Mark Donovan said "the critics were almost unanimous on one point: Blanche Baker was an ingenue whose time had come," citing reviews of critics that had called her "breathtaking" and "beguiling."

    Baker originated the role of Shelby in the first production of Steel Magnolias Off-Broadway in 1987.[9]

    Film

    Baker made her movie debut in the political drama The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979). Other film appearances include Sixteen Candles (1984), Cold Feet (1984) and Taking Chance (2009).

    Personal life

    Baker married movie director Bruce vanDusen on October 1, 1983.[10] They had three children before divorcing in 2002.[11]

    Baker remarried in 2003, to Mark McGill. They have one son.[11]

    Filmography

    Film

    Year Title Role Notes
    1979 French Postcards Laura
    1979 The Seduction of Joe Tynan Janet
    1982 The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Juliet
    1983 Cold Feet Leslie Christo
    1984 Sixteen Candles Ginny Baker
    1986 Raw Deal Amy Kaminski
    1988 Shakedown Gail Feinberger
    1988 Bum Rap Lisa DuSoir
    1990 The Handmaid's Tale Ofglen
    1991 Livin' Large Kate Penndragin
    1994 Dead Funny Barbara
    2006 Underdogs Marie
    2006 The Rehearsal Marie Short film
    2007 The Girl Next Door Ruth Chandler
    2008 3rd of July Mrs. Shaw Short film
    2008 Jersey Justice Polly O'Bannon
    2009 Science Fair (Or: Migratory Patterns & the Flight of the March Brown Mayfly) Mom Short film
    2009 Jackrabbit Sky Evelyn Boden
    2010 An Affirmative Act Lori Belmont
    2010 Three Chris’s Dolores Kelly
    2011 Fake Mrs. Needham
    2011 The Grand Theft Barbara Blushe
    2011 The Life Zone Dr. Victoria Wise
    2011 Whisper Me a Lullaby Aunt Jane
    2011 Untitled Folder Mom Short film
    2011 Hell Grace Mother Short film
    2012 Hypothermia Hellen Pelletier
    2012 Ruth Madoff Occupies Wall Street Ruth Madoff Short film
    2012 The Coffee Klash Gayle Short film
    2012 Curiosity Killed the Cat Gayle
    2013 Truth Dr. Carter Moore
    2013 Classless Principle Saunders Short film
    2013 Scallywag Mom Short film
    2014 Deep in the Darkness Zellis
    2014 The Coffee Shop Gayle
    2014 Lady Peacock Angie
    2015 Chasing Yesterday Linda
    2017 Coin Heist Mrs. Cunningham
    2017 Splitting Image Karen
    2018 My Daughter Vanished Helen
    2019 Zoe Zoe’s Mother Short film
    2021 Alice Fades Away Roxy
    2023 Perception Margaret Short film

    Television

    Year Title Role Notes
    1978 Holocaust Anna Weiss Television mini-series; Emmy Award for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries
    1979 Mary and Joseph: A Story of Faith Mary Television film
    1981 The Awakening of Candra Candra Torres Television film
    1982 The Day the Bubble Burst Joan Slezsak Television film
    1985 The Equalizer Allison Webster Episode: "Desperately"
    1985 Embassy Megan Hillyer Television film
    1986 Nobody's Child Shari Television film
    1987 Spenser: For Hire Carolyn Tomlinson Episode: "Personal Demons"
    1991 The Trials of Rosie O'Neill Unknown Episode: "Domestic Silence"
    1991 Davis Rules Cindy Episode: "Everybody Comes to Nick's"
    1992 In the Heat of the Night Jenny Sawyer Episode: "Love, Honor & Obey"
    1992 Law & Order Lucy Neven Episode: "Star Struck"
    1994 Clarissa Explains It All Chelsea Chipley Episode: "Janet and Clarissa, Inc."
    2005 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Miriam Engles Episode: "Diamond Dogs"
    2009 Taking Chance Chris Phelps Television film
    2013 The Chris Gethard Show Herself Episode: "#119: Scare the Shit Out of Bethany"
    2014 Wishin' and Hopin' Sister Filomena Television film

    As director

    • 2017 - Streetwrite
    • 2019 - Make America Safe[12]

    References

    1. ↑ "Ruth Madoff Occupies Wall Street — van Nguyen". Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
    2. ↑ Lynch, Jason. "Her Bronze Mettle: Following Her Turn in Sixteen Candles, Blanche Baker Sculpted a Life Beyond Hollywood". People Magazine. March 4, 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2015. "Baker returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Wellesley College in 1974 but got the acting bug and dropped out two years later to study both art and acting in New York City."
    3. ↑ HB Studio Alumni
    4. ↑ "'Mary and Joseph' Filming". The Kentucky New Era. July 24, 1979. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
    5. ↑ Devries, Hillary (March 3, 1981). "Protesters to picket 'Lolita'". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
    6. ↑ "Lolita". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
    7. ↑ Rich, Frank. "STAGE: ALBEE'S ADAPTATION OF 'LOLITA' OPENS". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
    8. ↑ Donovan, Mark. "Lolita, Broadway's Bomb of the Year, Detonates Edward Albee, Bemuses Donald Sutherland and Illuminates a Lovely Survivor, Blanche Baker". Time-Life. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
    9. ↑ Gussow, Mel (March 27, 1987). "Stage: 'Steel Magnolias,' A Louisiana Story". The New York Times.
    10. ↑ "Blanche Baker Becomes Bride". The New York Times. October 2, 1983. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    11. 1 2 "'Sixteen Candles' Cast: Where Are They Now?". Us Weekly. October 11, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
    12. ↑ "NEW YORK SHORT FILM FESTIVAL BLOCK 10". cinemavillage.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.